Not One Moment for Granted
by FremenCredo
Summary: Steven Cortez admired Commander Shepard. Heck, didn't everyone? But the chance to make it something more was just too much of a risk. He wasn't ready to cope with the loss of another brave, self-sacrificing man. However, that didn't mean he wouldn't do everything in his power to keep Shepard safe.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** Although many of the romances in Mass Effect are larger in scope, I found the interaction with Steve Cortez to be full of humor, sweet flirtations and special moments that I felt the more common romances lacked. This is a "what might have been" story, set mostly post-game in the extended version.

 **Not One Moment for Granted**

 **Ch. 1 - London**

The cabin was filling rapidly with smoke. Judging by the way the shuttle was handling, he decided the port-side stabilizers were the major source of the choking fumes. They must have sustained some damage from small arms fire during the dustoff. Luckily, the bullet holes in the hull on that side appeared to be venting the worst of it. At least he could still see the HUD. He started scanning for a place to land and effect basic repairs. That way, the shuttle would be ready for evac if Shepard - he shook his head angrily - _when_ Shepard finished taking out the AA gun.

With a screech of distressed metal, the entire rear of the shuttle exploded. "Damnit, I'm hit!" Cortez yelled. His hands froze on the controls as a single thought blazed in his mind. _I'm coming, Robert..._

"Steve!" The shout, almost a scream, jarred him out of his trance, and he was instantly back on the job, wrestling with the controls, fighting to keep the bird aloft. He had to: Shepard's voice had been too full of panic and despair and outright fear to deny.

"I'm all right," he gritted, feeling the familiar churning in his gut. _Damn you, Shepard. You've got Alenko. Why do you keep haunting me?_

"You sure?" Now the voice was calm, almost conversational. Shepard had himself under control again.

Cortez struggled to match the Commander's tone - crisp and professional. "But I won't be picking you up. I've gotta land this bird quick." There. Finally, a defensible, intact rooftop. His hands flew over the control panels, diverting auxiliary power to the thrusters. It was going to be rough, but the inertial dampeners were still holding, so the impact shouldn't be too bad. Thankfully, the fucking worm-necks had decided he wasn't worth following.

"Get safe."

It was a command, yes, but he could hear the underlying emotion, and he replied in kind without concern for how it might sound to anyone else on the frequency. "Anything for you."

 _Do the same for me, Shepard. Stay alive._

* * *

Cortez huddled inside the cockpit of the burning shuttle. The bulkhead door would protect him, and with all external systems powered down, there shouldn't be anything overt to attract attention from random reaper troops. It seemed like the initial wave of hostility towards the Hammer landings was dying down, and soon enough he'd be able to risk an encrypted query about where to head for extraction. He needed to get into another shuttle and back where he could do something useful.

"Nope, nothing to see here, guys," he muttered under his breath," imagining all the husks and cannibals swarming through the streets below. "Just another burning hunk of junk shot out of the sky..." His suit comm crackled, and he made out a few words through the static.

"...tez. _*crackle*_ Normandy _*hiss*_ uttle ... copy?" Steve hit the slider and boosted internal power slightly, transferring the channel to interior speakers.

"Cortez, you asshole. Do you copy?" Joker's voice was unmistakable, and the irritation was fairly burning through the link.

In spite of his current situation, Cortez smiled a bit. "I copy, Joker. Just keep it down, okay? I don't need any more company. Is there some way you can flag my location for pick-up?"

"Damn, it's good to hear your voice, Steve. Wait, you said _'pick up'_? Are you telling me Mr. Steven Cortez, pilot without peer, has _wrecked_ a shuttle?" Joker snickered.

"Yeah, dad, I wrecked the car. Ground me later, okay?" Cortez countered. "So, how 'bout that lift? I'll need an ETA so I'll know when to power up the fire-suppression system - but not until last minute. The fire currently going on aft of the cabin is protecting me more than it's bothering my shield generator...," he cut off abruptly, sure he'd heard something. He muted the comm, just as the whole shuttle rocked, and there was an echoing, guttural roar from outside. _Brute?_ he thought, and swallowed. He closed the face plate on his helmet and readied his shotgun, eyes glued to the door. It was sturdy, sure, but he doubted it could withstand a determined assault by one of the krogan/turian Reaper hybrids for very long.

The seconds seemed to drag, and he saw the light signalling incoming comm messages flashing out of the corner of his eye. _Later, Joker... if there IS a later._

Then he heard a wonderful sound ... shuttle engines in hover mode, and the crackle and thud of heavy arms fire. He activated the external virtual screens, and saw a shuttle preparing to land on the roof right next to him, but no sign of any reapers. He did a quick 360 pan with the camera, and when the huge mushroom cloud came into view, he realized what had caused the earlier shaking. _Damned if you didn't do it, Shepard,_ he thought in admiration. With a few quick gestures, Steve activated the fire extinguishers and restored the volume on the comm, as well as powering up the video.

"You were asking for a ride, I believe?" Joker's tone was bland, but he was smirking.

"Roger that," Cortez replied. "You're a pain in the ass, Mr. Moreau - but you know, given your impeccable timing, I think I can live with it." He paused for a second, hardly daring to ask. "Joker? That Hades cannon ... was Shepard..." he trailed off.

"Not to worry, Cortez," Joker replied immediately, completely serious for once. "The Commander blew the fucker to hell and gone. As a matter of fact, your ride is also on the way to pick him up, so I suggest you get your butt moving - because sure as shit that explosion is going to bring all the monsters to the yard..."

He was talking to an empty screen. "All right, see ya," Joker muttered, and killed the comm link. "Okay, EDI, back at it," he said, and the Normandy arrowed back into battle.

* * *

"Flight _Leftenant_ Moreau says you're a pilot?" The voice was polished, British. Cortez nodded, and the Alliance major waved him into the cockpit. "Chatham is a damned fine pilot, but he's a bloody artist on the mini-gun. Switch with him, please, so we can secure Commander Shepard and his team without delay."

Cortez nodded, and ducked around an older man standing by the viewscreen. He blinked at the Admiral's insignia on the well-worn uniform, but didn't pause; sliding into the pilot's seat as Chatham nodded and moved to the gunnery controls. Steve saw that the coordinates were already locked in, and as he spooled up the engines in prep for takeoff, the comm came on line. He heard Shepard's voice on the general frequency, requesting evac. Steve toggled his radio link to confirm, but the lingering fallout from the destruction of the Hades was evidently playing havoc with all links. "Hang on, guys," he whispered as the shuttle climbed from the roof and raced toward the wreckage of the silenced Reaper cannon.

As they came within sight of the ruined building where the other shuttle had gone down, it was hard to make sense of the chaotic battle swirling on its roof. But there, right in the middle, he saw an island of calm, with controlled patterns of tracer fire radiating outward from a central area, punctuated with occasional bursts of biotic energy. The major grabbed the wall-mounted mic in the main cabin and flipped a switch, so that the mechanical loudspeaker could be used.

"Commander, prepare for extraction!" The noise levels ramped up as Steve opened the starboard door, and he risked a quick glance away from the control panels to the viewscreen. The vortex of the firefight abruptly swung towards the upper side of the building, and he sideslipped the shuttle gracefully, bringing it to hover mere feet from the edge of the ruined wall. "Come on, we'll cover you," the Major shouted. Cortez took a deep breath, and held the ship rock steady. Then a whining hum drowned out the worst of the noise as Chatham opened fire with the mini-gun, laying down a withering cover fire. The shuttle rocked slightly, once - twice - three times.

"Get us out of here," the Major barked, and Cortez throttled up to maximum, taking them up and then curving past the smoldering wreck of the Hades.

"Got 'em all," Chatham said with quiet satisfaction, slipping into the co-pilot's seat. "That was some impressive flying, sir. Here, I'll give you the coordinates for the FOB." Cortez nodded, distracted. He'd been straining his ears, and finally heard what he'd been waiting for.

"I'm alive," Shepard said.

* * *

"All right, set her down there," Chatham said, indicating a wide area - probably originally a parking lot - that was flanked with troop transports and tall buildings.

"How many shuttles do you have?" Steve asked as he began final approach. "I sure would like to take this one back to Normandy, so we'll have evac capability." It wasn't a really question, and Chatham didn't treat it as one.

"Not too many, thanks to those AA guns," he admitted sourly. "But you're welcome to this one. Scuttlebutt says the next stage is ground-based, anyway."

"Good to know," Cortez said, and cut the engines when the shuttle kissed earth. The cabin pressure changed as someone in the main compartment opened the door, and he heard the voices which had been earnestly conversing about events of the past few months fading away as he hailed the Normandy. Chatham left the cockpit with a friendly nod.

"Joker? Hey, can we rendezvous? I've got us a new shuttle."

"Sure, Cortez. Name the time and location. We're mainly using EDI to keep firelines coordinated, but it's starting to turn into a bunch of dogfights with the bigger ships duking it out. Even after all Garrus' calibrations, the Thanix still isn't quite up to going toe-to-toe with the bigger Reapers." Joker's voice was showing the strain of all the demands being placed on him, but he was still managing a light tone.

An armored hand settled on Steve's shoulder and squeezed, firmly enough to feel through his suit material. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'll get back to you ASAP, Joker. Give me a couple of minutes." He cut the channel, and turned his head to see Shepard standing behind him, apparently none the worse for wear. He swallowed, and put his hand over Shepard's.

"You kept your promise, Cortez." Shepard's voice was warm, and his smile was something to savor.

Steve swallowed again, and smiled back. "Like I said: anything for you." Shepard started to lean forward, but his comm chimed, and he paused.

"Marcus? Admiral Anderson wants to brief us on the assault," Kaiden Alenko's voice rang out clearly in the cabin, and Shepard straightened again.

"I have to go, Steve," he said. "But you _stay_ safe, okay?"

"I will ... Marcus. You do the same. And I'll be ready to pick you up after this is finished."

Cortez turned back to the comm panel and hailed Joker. His shoulder was still tingling from the memory of Shepard's hand when he docked with the Normandy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ch. 2 - Beam**

As soon as he had the shuttle in the air, Steve headed south, following the winding course of the Thames, avoiding comming the Normandy until he was crossing the outer coast of the Isle of Wight. As soon as he'd relayed the coordinates, Steve requested EDI transfer a patch of the Reaper IFF to the onboard computer. It wouldn't be the same as the stealth systems incorporated into the lost Kodiak - not by a long shot - but at least it would cause a few precious seconds of indecision to any hostiles scanning it. Ship and shuttle rendezvoused over the Atlantic, then the Normandy spiraled up into mid-atmospheric station-keeping - close enough for relaying communication traffic from surface and space - and giving Joker quick access to either space or landing as needed.

When the engines were offline, Cortez immediately set about rigging the borrowed shuttle for Normandy standards. First he examined the minigun. It wasn't nearly as robust as the military specced one on the original Kodiak, but was simply a ground weapon welded to the deckplates. It was a masterful piece of jury-rigging, however, and much lighter than the old gun, so he decided to leave it in place.

He restocked all the gun slots with every bit of ordnance he could find in the armory - leaving only the marine company's personal weapons. All the underseat storage was stuffed with spare thermal clips, medi-gel packs and water and rations. Dr. Chakwas had complained mildly that he wasn't leaving her much to work with for on-board emergencies, but he quelled her with a look. "It's for the Commander, Doc."

She nodded and sighed. "You're a good man, Steven," she said. "Of course you're right. If Commander Shepard doesn't make it, I don't think anyone else will, either." She sat down at her desk and toyed with an expensive-looking liquor bottle. "Stubborn man never _would_ have that drink with me," she murmured. She smiled, and held it out "Here, Lieutenant. Take this, too. Purely for medicinal purposes, of course. But also for when he succeeds."

"Of course, Doctor," Cortez promised. "And we'll save some for you." As a final measure, he put in a few extra emergency suits - they weren't built for combat, but more as life-saving backups - with mini-mass effect powered air processors, comm units and medigel dispensers. They were standard on all shuttles, which weren't large enough to have standard lifepods.

After that, there was nothing to do but wait. He matched the armory communicator with the shipwide system and listened to the reports.

Not much of it sounded good, but there were still victories being reported, at least in the space over Earth. Reaper forces had taken quite a few hits - with a few of the capital ships taken out through concentrated fire, but the smaller Collector drones were wreaking havoc by infiltrating hulls and damaging key systems. As soon as they heard reports of that, EDI relayed intel on how Shepard and his crew had dealt with the problem, and the countermeasures seemed to be effective. Cortez' hands twitched as he imagined being back in his Trident, helping blow the fuckers out of the sky.

Suddenly, his personal channel pinged. Mystified, he opened the link, and there was Marcus Shepard.

"Shepard, you're alive," he blurted inanely. _No shit, genius, you just dropped him off..._

The Commander's image grinned. "Well, it's only been an hour. Just how much trouble could I get into?" At Steve's snort, he nodded. "Okay, yeah, dumb question. Glad to see you're back on the Normandy." His expression grew solemn. "I wish we'd had more time to talk. When I saw that explosion ... that's a feeling I never want to have again." Cortez could feel the intensity of his emotion even through the holo link. But he couldn't be sure who was in the same area, so he kept his reply businesslike.

"I apologize for that. Things got too hot. Thought maybe I could do another run and head back around..."

"Well, you did - you even found a way to be my pilot again." There was no mistaking the emphasis the other man had put on the word, but again, Steve felt constrained to deflect.

"Well, still not one of my finer moments. If I'd been flying my old Trident, things might have been different."

Shepard nodded and smiled ruefully. "What matters is we took out that AA gun."

"Absolutely," Steve replied. "And the Reapers are next."

Shepard sighed. "That's the idea." There was a pause, and Steve searched desperately for something to say, because even though he knew this minor delay was costing lives, he was unwilling to give up this last contact so quickly.

"So, I hear the next phase is a ground attack?" When Shepard nodded, Steve was suddenly galvanized by an idea. "But WHY go on the ground? Now that the AA guns are out, why not just send a wave of shuttles and gunships straight into the beam? Hell, you drove a Mako through a damned mini mass relay during Sovereign's attack. This shouldn't be all that different."

Shepard was shaking his head. "I hear you, Steve. I proposed the same thing, but evidently, there's a Reaper Destroyer the size of the one we nuked on Rannoch guarding the area. First order of business is to knock it out of the fight, and for that, we need ground-based rockets - just like on the AA guns. The beam is giving off some sort of distortion pulse, kind of what Leviathan was throwing at us. Flying is just too risky."

"Damnit. Oh, well, it'll happen. Remember when I said you inspire optimism?" Shepard rolled his eyes, but Steve continued. "It's because victory always follows you."

"Well, anyway, it helps to know I'm not alone out here." Shepard's image looked away, smiling warmly at someone out of pickup range. "Yes, that means you, too, Kaiden."

Cortez swallowed around the lump in his throat. "Never alone, Commander. I - _we'll_ be waiting for you. Just come back in one piece, okay? And make sure Vega does, too." Shepard's face swung back to look at him again, and this time the smile was strained.

"I will." Shepard lifted a hand toward Steve in farewell, and Steve unconsciously echoed the gesture, so for a moment they appeared to touch. The transmission cut off, and Cortez slumped. He couldn't stay in the shuttle bay any longer - or else he'd be tempted to do something stupid, like flying down and trying to help. He headed up to the CIC and settled into one of the auxiliary nav seats behind Joker's chair.

The ensuing 20 minutes were torture as they received sporadic updates from the surface. The convoy was moving. The convoy had been blocked. Shepard's team had taken out a gun emplacement. The convoy was moving again. So many little snippets of information, but put together, they told the story quite well. Commander Shepard was on the move, and hell awaited anything that got in his way. Then came the sticking point - they'd arrived at the final rally point to take out the Destroyer, and there was no back-up. Everyone else was either blocked or dead, and there was no crew to man the missile bank.

When the first salvo failed, and Shepard started consulting with EDI for a work-around to hotwire the remaining missiles, Cortez bowed his head, silently praying for a miracle. It was the first time he'd done so since Robert died. And God, or somebody, evidently heard his prayers.

He listened, amazed, at the almost feral glee in Shepard's voice as he, Alenko and Vega laid down a pattern of suppression against all the worst the Reapers could throw at them, giving EDI time to calibrate the last two missiles; drawing the Destroyer closer and closer with their continued defiance.

And when the Destroyer finally went down, he whooped and slapped the back of Joker's chair, hard enough to draw a half-hearted complaint from the grinning pilot. _"It's really going to happen,"_ Cortez thought. _"Shepard's going to_ make _it happen."_

Barely ten minutes later, he was sprinting for the elevator, spurred by Shepard's desperate plea as Joker sent the Normandy plunging towards Earth, repeating their names over and over in a sort of mantra. _"Hold on James, mi amigo. Hold on, Kaiden. Hold on, Marcus. You can't leave me now!"_

This second arrival over the ruined city of London showed a landscape just as hellish as the first, although the stealth system and the Reaper-based IFF did manage to stymie the worst of the Reaper depredations. As the Normandy swung into a low hover at station-keeping, Cortez was armed, suited and waiting in the shuttle bay as the hanger door opened. He was standing with the marine guards, ready to offer whatever assistance he could, including covering fire. Debris, bodies and vehicles were being thrown skyward in all directions, kicked up by repeated plasma blasts from the three Reaper capital ships guarding the approach to the Beam.

His heart started pounding ferociously as he saw the three figures staggering towards the ship. It was all of them, and more or less in one piece - at least they were all mobile. James was covering their retreat, and it looked as though Shepard was okay, as well, since he was helping Alenko walk. The biotic appeared dazed, and blood was streaming down the front of his armor. Cortez noticed movement - some cannibals and husks were finally starting to take notice of them, and he started picking off those closest, joined by the marines. At the sound of the added weapons fire, Vega turned around and sprinted to catch up with Shepard and Alenko.

As they mounted the ramp, Cortez slung his shotgun and stepped forward, giving James a hand up. The younger man's face was grim, but he managed a quick grin for his friend.

"Here, take him," Shepard said, and both of them spun to see him pushing the wounded Alenko toward James. Vega's eyes widened, but he stepped forward to grab the major around the waist, keeping him standing.

"Shepard?!" Kaiden's head swung up, and he stared accusingly at the Commander, who was still at the foot of the ramp.

"You've got to get out of here," Shepard replied steadily.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," Kaiden gritted, trying to throw off James' supporting arm.

Shepard shook his head. "Don't argue with me, Kaiden."

Cortez watched Alenko's shoulders slump. "Don't leave me behind," he pleaded, but it was obvious from his voice that he knew the answer.

"No matter what happens..." as he spoke, Shepard strode up the ramp to reach out and gently cup Kaiden's cheek. "Know that I love you; always." And for the barest instant, his eyes flickered sideways to meet Steve's; including him in that statement. Numbly, Cortez nodded once, and mouthed _"and you..."_ just as Kaiden said, "I love you, too. Be careful."

Shepard backed down the ramp, staring at all of them now, crew and friends, as if to memorize their faces. Then he glanced over his shoulder, and saw that Harbinger was bringing its aiming system to bear on the Normandy. He faced them one last time, yelled "GO!" and leapt off the bottom of the ramp, hitting the ground running.

Joker had been listening on the intership comm and the door started closing even as the ship wheeled up and away. Cortez got on the other side of Kaiden, and together he and James got the Major over to Vega's workout space, seating him on the weight bench. As Vega summoned Dr. Chakwas, Cortez sat down next to Kaiden.

"The doc's on the way, Major. But don't worry ..." He trailed off as Alenko stared at him with hopeless bloodshot eyes.

"Look," he continued determinedly, "I've got a shuttle prepped and ready to go. I'll bring him back to you."

The dead look left Kaiden's eyes, and he gripped Steve's shoulder. "No, you bring him back to _us_ , Steve," he said. "Uh, _all_ of us," he amended as Vega came back with Dr. Chakwas in tow.

"Yes, sir," Steve nodded, and stood up. Kaiden grimaced at him, so he added, "I promise, Kaiden."

Moments later, as he was setting coordinates for a fast, steep approach that would send him and the shuttle into the beam before the Reapers could react, he heard the report. Everyone in the last push was dead, according to Major Coats - no survivors. Steve clenched his hands in fury, then shook his head. In that case, he was still going to keep his promise to Kaiden, and bring Shepard back aboard the Normandy. At least this time, there would be closure, instead of the gaping hole Robert's death had left.


End file.
